Digital threats continue to impede information assurance. Many issues in information assurance have arisen in the last decade or two, including risk management, information quality, intellectual property, privacy protection, compliance with regulations, and continuity of operations. As a result, protecting information has become a global priority, and collaborative efforts are being made to prevent, detect, and react to threats to information quality, authenticity, integrity, confidentiality, and availability.
As society steps into the age of generative AI (GenAI), fresh challenges and opportunities are arising in the realms of information security, privacy, and quality. Questions have emerged regarding the role and intended/unintended consequences of GenAI in information assurance. GenAI is believed to pose a paradox, serving as a dual-edged sword in the realm of information assurance.
The emergence of GenAI is poised to exert a profound impact on assurance. On the one hand, GenAI has been recognized for its ability to bolster information assurance. On the other hand, GenAI heightens the potency of existing threats, allows the fabrication of false information, fuels intellectual property theft, and poses challenges to governance and compliance. Tremendous new opportunities exist for information systems scholars to study information assurance issues within the context of GenAI, as traditional approaches may not work.
This special issue seeks research that goes beyond simple applications of existing theories and methods from the cybersecurity literature in IS. We invite studies that explore the unique information assurance challenges in the realm of GenAI, calling for the development and application of new theories or methods.